Professor James Economy's Group
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[Bactericides Materials] [HDD Lubricants] [New materials for Fuel Cell] [Gas Hydrates] In
this study, we developed a new kind of antibacterial
fibers by chemically coating fiber substrates of glass
with colloidal sized silver particles. The antibacterial
activities were evaluated against E.coli and
compared with their regenerability has been investigated
as well. We
have developed a new family of aliphatic polyester
lubricants for hard disk drive applications that might
address some of the above problems. The polar ester
groups in the polymer main chain should provide a strong
interaction between the lubricant and the carbon
overcoat, hence, slow removal or loss, as well as fast
recovery may be expected. In addition, polar lubricants
may act like solid when the film thickness is below 5 nm,
hence, stiction problem, which has been a problem for the
amorphous PFPE lubricants, might be greatly reduced. Currently,
we focus on the development of alternative membranes for
Nafion. There are three goals we are trying to achieve:
synthesize membranes that are cheaper, lower methanol
crossover than Nafion and keeping high ion conduction
even at the temperature above 100oC, i.e.
under anhydrous environment. Our
Research Plan is : 1). Develop an
understanding of the conditions required for gas hydrate
formation accompanied by salt separation; 2). Identify
approaches to catalyze the formation and decomposition of
gas hydrate; 3). Try to find out which of these
systems is appropriate for use at shallow depths for
economical recovery of potable water and the
working gas 4). Eventually, try to access the
methane hydrate sitting at depth of several thousand feet
to recover streams of clean water and methane ( a source
of fuel).
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